Door Sill Rust

[axel1]

Hi all!

When I first picked up my '14 last year I noticed a bit of what I thought was dirt underneath the plastic trim in the driver's side door sill. Didn't think much of it and left it at that.

Today while running some wiring under the trim I noticed that it was not just dirt, and was in fact worn-through paint turned to rust. I guess the plastic trim is just ever-so-slightly loose and wears away at the sill paint during driving. The passenger side trim has been doing a similar rubbing but is not nearly as bad.

Passenger side:

(ignore the water, there was some light snow when I took these pics)

Once the weather warms up this spring, I'll probably take it in to the body shop and have them repaint & throw down some protection film to keep it from wearing through again. As much as I'd love to save money and do it myself this is definitely a more involved repair than some touch-up paint and sandpaper.

Just curious if anyone else has similar issues & what they've done to deal with it. I'd imagine it's not a super uncommon problem considering everyone's trim pieces are the same.

 

[SR5Bart]

There is a TSB out there for the new Tacomas that are having the same issue. One of my customers just got his redone no charge

 

[BltByKrmn]

Is this a common problem? I noticed a spot just over a year ago on my wife's 2014, called Toyota and they basically told me to piss off.

It's now just as bad as the pictures posted in this thread.

 

[Tbasse01]

Hi all!

When I first picked up my '14 last year I noticed a bit of what I thought was dirt underneath the plastic trim in the driver's side door sill. Didn't think much of it and left it at that.

Today while running some wiring under the trim I noticed that it was not just dirt, and was in fact worn-through paint turned to rust. I guess the plastic trim is just ever-so-slightly loose and wears away at the sill paint during driving. The passenger side trim has been doing a similar rubbing but is not nearly as bad.

Passenger side:

(ignore the water, there was some light snow when I took these pics)

Once the weather warms up this spring, I'll probably take it in to the body shop and have them repaint & throw down some protection film to keep it from wearing through again. As much as I'd love to save money and do it myself this is definitely a more involved repair than some touch-up paint and sandpaper.

Just curious if anyone else has similar issues & what they've done to deal with it. I'd imagine it's not a super uncommon problem considering everyone's trim pieces are the same.

Exact same thing on my 2016 limited with 68k on it, I bought it used from the dealer and he fixed it up for me...almost every 4runner I looked at that was 3 years or older had the exact same rubbing and surface rust

 

[NYRunner]

My 2010 Limited has had it as long as I can remember

 

[larrylegend]

I have noticed a similar pattern at several locations. Essentially any location where body panels meet, trim meets a panel, spoiler meets the roof, plastic pockets in the tailgate, headlights, etc etc. I'm pretty disappointed in the fit and finish of the 5th gen 4Runners in terms of plastic on painted surfaces. If you live in the rust belt or anywhere else salt is used, you should really give your 4Runner a once over at those locations and check for rust forming or paint wearing through. If not, you may not notice the issue until it is a much larger issue.

 

[Robertw]

My 2013 SR5 is showing the same signs. I have to bring it to a body shop and get a quote to have it repaired. Going to assume it will be a pricey fix.

 

[8000m]

After having the lift gate repainted to fix some rust around the garnish, I put some clear 3M film under the garnish and under the door sills. The plastic now rubs on the film, not the paint.

 

[schwein]

same issue on our 2014, started happening a few years ago, i pulled it all off sanded it down and rust neutralized it then used touchup paint, the blizzard pearl paint is im possible to touchup so it looks OK... but certainly not perfect. luckily its the door sill and you only see it when the door is opened. shop quoted me 500 dollars to do both drivers and passenger doors. mostly because of the cost of the paint, seemed pretty steep for minimal painting so i did it myself.

 

[NYRunner]

same issue on our 2014, started happening a few years ago, i pulled it all off sanded it down and rust neutralized it then used touchup paint, the blizzard pearl paint is im possible to touchup so it looks OK... but certainly not perfect. luckily its the door sill and you only see it when the door is opened. shop quoted me 500 dollars to do both drivers and passenger doors. mostly because of the cost of the paint, seemed pretty steep for minimal painting so i did it myself.

Same here- I was detailing my truck this summer and doing some minor upgrades and noticed it. Sanded down to bare metal, used a self etching primer and 3 or 4 coats of paint followed by 3 or 4 layers of clear coat. The passenger side wasn’t nearly as bad but I did it too and then sprayed fluid film into the frame through the holes where the plastic retainers go, as well as into the drainage holes in the doors.

*** Make sure you take a peak under your carpet if you’re doing this. On the drivers side I found a little rust starting under there too and took care of it